Lisa's butternut squash and courgette soup

1 butternut squash
2/3/4 courgettes depending on size and season
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large white onion
mild curry powder, or mixed curry spices - you know what you like
cumin
cayenne pepper
chicken stock
coconut milk, or yogurt, or however you want to do it
spring onion for garnish, but this is totally optional.

Peel and chop the butternut squash and nuke it - really nuke it - in the oven til it's soft. It'll take about 15-20 minutes, with a couple of turnings, on the highest setting. While that's going on, saute the chopped courgette, onion and garlic together until soft but not coloured, so leave the lid on and stir often. Add the now-squidgy squash and spices to the pan, along with the chicken stock (up to you how much depending on how much vegetable is in the pan), and then cover and leave it to cook down gently for a while. Hand-blend it or mash it, add the yogurt/coconut milk/whatever and stir in, and then garnish (if liked) with the spring onions; it's a nice crunch. Weirdly good with parmesan, I don't know why since it's technically curry flavoured.

Banana and chocolate chip loaf

225 self-raising flour
half a teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs, beaten
3 bananas, mashed
80ml sesame oil
60ml milk
110g brown Splenda, or about 80 ish grams soft brown sugar
110g chocolate chips
60 walnuts
about 60g cherries, chopped
teaspoon of cinnamon

Set the oven for 180 degrees.

Sift the flour, bicarb and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the beaten eggs, mashed banana, oil and milk, and when they're stirred together mix in the sugar thoroughly. Stir this, in turn, into the flour and cinnamon mixture, and then add the chocolate, nuts and cherries.

Pour into the loaf tin (the silicone one), and bake for about 40 minutes. This is quite a soft squidgy affair when it's freshly done and hot, but be careful that it's fully cooked. The skewer won't come out clean as it's got banana and chocolate in it but it should be nearly there.

Potato, leek and bacon pie

Approx 1kg potatoes, peeled and chopped into even sized pieces
3 leeks
1 onion
3-4 slices smoked bacon
bit of garlic

For seasoning the mash -
salt
pepper
lots of grated cheese

Boil the potatoes, and while that's going, sweat off the leeks, bacon and onion with the garlic. When the potatoes are cooked, mash them with the salt and pepper and cheese, and then just layer up in a pie dish and bake at about 180 degrees for about half an hour - 40 minutes.

Roast tomato sauce, three ways

Basic sauce:

2-3 packs of baby tomatoes, preferably plum
1 head of garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves
olive oil
black pepper
salt

For ALL VERSIONS, begin like this:

Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Line a roasting tin with foil or the floppy baking sheet, and sprinkle olive oil over it generously. Empty the tomatoes in, along with the unpeeled cloves of garlic, and roll them around so they're well coated. Season with salt and black pepper - not too much salt though - and stick them in the oven. They will take about 20 minutes but you MUST watch them or they'll burn. Give them a little roll or shake every so often.

While that is happening, pick one of the following recipe options.

Version 1 - Italian:

1 pack pancetta
1 large onion, sliced thinly
black olives, pitted and chopped finely
chili
basil

Sweat off the pancetta til the fat is rendered, and then add the onion and cook down. When the tomatoes look roasted, add them in with the olives, chili and basil, and squeeze all the squidgy roast garlic in, mashing them on the way. Let it cook down and voila.

Version 2 - Fakey Spanish

1 small pack chorizo
1 large onion, sliced thinly
black olives, pitted and chopped
finelysweet smoked paprika
lemon

As before, sweat off the chorizo til it's rendered, and add the onion and cook down. Add the tomatoes, paprika and olives and stir, and squeeze/mash all the roasted garlic before adding it to cook down.

Version 3 - Puttanesca

Anchovy fillets, drained and mashed
1 large onion, sliced thinly
black olives, pitted and chopped finely
chili

With this version you don't add the anchovy until everything else has combined. So, in a dab of butter or splash of oil, sweat off the onion. Add the tomatoes, and follow the same procedure with squeezing/mashing etc. Add the chili, olives and anchoves towards the end of cooking and stir well.

Dirty rice

Serves 2-3 HUNGRY people:

1 onion, chopped
thinly sliced chorizo or spanish ham or other porky goodness
1 pack of black beans, drained
300g basmati rice
600ml chicken stock (you need two stock cubes)
1 tsp chile ancho powder
sprinkle of cayenne or chili flakes
sprinkle of oregano

Just soften off the onion and the porky loveliness in a saucepan, before adding the rice, beans, stock and seasoning, bringing to the boil, covering and simmering til everything is absorbed. Fluff it up with a fork and serve with chili/fajitas/whatever :)

Lamb Burgers A La Duckett

2 packs of minced lamb
1 large onion
good squirt of garlic paste
good splat of sweet chili sauce (be generous)
cumin, 1 - 1.5 tsp
pine nuts, a cupful (chopped)
dried apricots, a cupful (chopped)
Fresh parsley and mint, a good handful each, chopped
black pepper/salt
1 egg, beaten

Start by chopping the onion finely and sweating off in a pan so it's soft.

Then, combine all the ingredients EXCEPT THE EGG in a large bowl, seasoning well. Mix well with your hands and see what you think the consistency's like. Add about a third to a half of the egg and give it a good squidge. Then form it into burgers, grill or fry or whatever, and serve with houmus and chili sauce :)

Chili

1 pack of minced beef, or if you've got loads of time, stewing steak
1-2 rashers of bacon (optional, but nice), or a little chopped chorizo
1 large onion
green and red peppers
1-2 courgettes
garlic paste
tomato puree
carton chopped tomotoes or passata
small can of refried beans
small can kidney beans
carton of black beans
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp chipotle
little splash of Tabasco
beef stock cube
1/2 tsp cinnamon
small bar dark, dark chocolate (grated)

Begin as you would with the Spaghetti Bolognese; if you're using any bacon or chorizo, stick em in the pan and let the fat render, and then add the beef along with the stock cube, cinnamon, and a little toot of garlic. When it's all browned and sticky and the juices are running, add the chopped onion and another slug of garlic and let it all go soft and lovely while you dice your peppers and courgettes.

When you're happy that the onion and meat are all cooked down, add the veg, stick the lid on, and leave everything to cook down for about ten minutes or so.

At this point, add the cinnamon, cumin, chili powder, chipotle, oregano, tomato puree and passata. Give it a good stir and let it bubble with the lid on while you get on with draining all the beans and grating the chocolate. When the beans are drained and the chocomalate is grated, add them to the pot, stir well, and put the lid back on. Don't add the refried beans just yet, because they thicken the sauce too much. You can hold back til quite near serving time on that one. Do leave things for about ten minutes and then taste. You might want to add the splash of Tabasco, or a pinch of salt or sugar depending on what you think it needs. After that though, it's smallest gas ring, lowest heat, lid on, and you go and watch the football and leave it all to do its thing.

Serve it with sour cream, nachos, guacamole, grated cheddar, rice, tortillas, whatever you like :)